Gratitude Body

Welcome to the Healthy Mindset App Podcast where host Mike Hartman, a performance coach and former professional athlete, brings his passion to help athletes and workplace athletes achieve their dreams and goals while being mindful of everything else in life. Mike also uses this platform to share his targeted assessment applications Healthy Mindset Course Meditation and Goal Setting Technique for the Athlete and Workplace Athlete we're glad you're here. Now let's dive headfirst into this episode of the Healthy Mindset App Podcast Podcast. Here's your host, Mike Hartman.

Gratitude for your body to begin this meditation Please bring kind awareness to why you chose this topic. How your belly, chest and head each feel when you reflect on this topic the emotions that you can associate with these visceral feelings the positive or negative impact of any stories you believe in regarding this topic the fact that many others are feeling similarly about this topic is you how you might feel with increased awareness around this topic when you can apply increased mindfulness to this topic in your day to day life. Loving Kindness Body Scan Meditation the body scan is a powerful technique which helps us to re establish contact with the body and it is effective for developing both concentration and flexibility of attention. The intention of the Loving Kindness Body Scan is to help us be more loving and kind to our bodies. This includes sickness, physical aches and pains, cancer, arthritis, back pain, knee pain, old age, all the physical phenomena we experience. Using the Loving Kindness Body Scan, we meet each part of our bodies with great respect and gentleness as best we can. Loving Kindness practice for your body is like taking an internal shower. It helps to remove some of the inner blockages to the body and helps both the mind and body feel more at ease. Meeting each body part with Loving Kindness is a way to reconnect and make friends with your body. To begin this Loving Kindness Body Scan practice, please prepare yourself for meditation by turning off your cell phone and and any other device which may disturb your meditation. Find a space where you can feel safe and can relax. A good position to take while doing the Loving Kindness Body Scan is to lie down. You might want to roll a towel up and place it under your knees. Let your head rest on a pillow for support. You want to be comfortable but not so comfortable that you fall asleep. If you find you are having difficulty staying awake, it is often helpful to keep your eyes open. It is also fine to do this meditation sitting in a chair if you prefer. It is common to find that your mind is wandering when you are doing the Loving Kindness Body Scan. Just notice this when it happens. Observe where your attention has gone and then gently bring it back to the region you are focusing on as you move through your body. If you notice pain, note precisely what the qualities of sensation are. Then treat the sensation with as much kindness as you can as you keep doing this meditation. This practice teaches us how to respond to unpleasant sensations by acknowledging them and moving on without getting stuck or making up a story about them. In certain parts of the body, it is common not to feel any sensation at all. Simply allow your attention to remain in those areas for a few moments. Relax, be at ease, and then move on. Let's begin the meditation practice. If you like, let your eyes close. Begin by settling into your body and gently noticing the general sense of the position of your body and the flowing sensations just as they are right now. You can trust that you already have all you need to be present and mindful as you do this loving kindness. Body Scan now take three deep breaths. Bring your attention to the feeling of your body breathing. As you feel your body breathing in, feel the expansion of your chest or abdomen. You may want to put one of your hands over your abdomen. Bring your attention to your hand and feel it move as the breath flows in and out. Then rest in the natural flow of your breath. No need to control the breath in any way, allowing yourself to relax, letting your focus be on the direct changing sensations. Experiencing your body not getting lost in any judgment about your body. You're not thinking about the body, but rather connecting directly with sensations by feeling the body from within. Take a moment to feel your body as a whole from your head to your toes. Noticing the places that are in contact with the floor, the bed or the chair. Now transfer your attention to the top of your head and let everything else go. Put your full awareness on the top of the head without looking for anything in particular. Feel any sensation there, pressure, tingling, cold, warmth or anything else you're aware of. Notice any feeling associated with your experience. Is it pleasant, unpleasant or neutral? Once you acknowledge the feelings that arise in you, turn your mind toward thoughts of loving kindness. Repeat a phrase such as may the top of my head be at ease. If you are experiencing any pain, you could say, may my head be free of pain, free of any tightness or pressure. May my head be relaxed and at ease. Visualize your head while you repeat one of the phrases. Or just rest with the feeling of kindness toward your head. Now shifting attention from your head, slowly move your attention to your eyes. Noticing sensations, movement or being aware of any color or or light. Do your eyes feel heavy? If you have eye problems, can you in this moment meet that difficulty with kindness, perhaps feeling a sense of gratitude for your eyes, even for your eyeglasses, for allowing you to see the world and move around easily. Sending loving kindness phrases May I appreciate my eyes. May my eyes be healthy and well. May I accept my eyes in whatever condition they are in this moment. May I see my life with clarity and balance now shifting your awareness to your ears Feeling appreciation for being able to hear saying may my hearing be clear and crisp. For those wearing hearing aids, may I have gratitude for the technology that has created the device that allows me to hear now shifting kind attention to your nose Feeling the air coming in and out of the tip of your nose Being grateful that you are able to breathe, perhaps feel the air in the back of your throat and rest in gratitude. Bring your attention to your lips, jaw, mouth and tongue. Appreciate how they all work together. Talking, chewing, smiling, noticing if you feel any tightness or holding in your jaw, relaxing and loosening the tightness as best you can. What is the position of your tongue in this moment? Allowing any tightness in your tongue to melt away Feeling your whole face relaxing Sending loving kindness to yourself. May my lips, jaw, mouth and tongue be relaxed and healthy. Slowly move from your head down to your neck, Noticing any sensation in your neck. Sending loving kindness phrases May I meet any stiffness in my neck with kind attention May my neck move with ease. Now bring your attention to your shoulders, noticing the top of your shoulders. Is there any holding? Meeting any sensation you feel with kindness? Take a nice deep breath and as you exhale, letting your shoulders come down and release as best you can. May my shoulders be relaxed and at ease. Now moving from your shoulders, slowly move down your arms, feeling any sensation and aliveness there. Bringing your awareness to your hands. What position are they in at this moment? Feel the point of contact as they rest. Noticing any sensation, any holding or tightness. Feel any vibrating or pulsing. Notice any sensations you have in your arms or hands. Noticing any coolness or warmth in your hands and fingers. Sending loving kindness phrases May my arms and hands be move with ease. Feeling perhaps a sense of gratitude for how your arms, hands and fingers all work together, allowing you to keep your balance and lift things. Letting your arms and hands go and slowly moving down the torso. Having appreciation for all your internal organs, to name a few. Your heart, lungs, stomach and intestine. Bringing kind awareness and gratitude for all their many functions. Having patience for the parts that at times may give you difficulty. May my heart be strong, may my breathing be peaceful. May my stomach be at ease during times of unpleasant sensations May I remember to send myself kindness. May I send any fear or worry that I may have kindness? When all is working, may I be grateful now shifting your attention from the front of your body to your back. Slowly moving from the top of your shoulders down your spine to the lower back. Noticing any sensations in your lower back. Meeting the sensations with kind awareness. Now moving your attention to the left side of your back. Notice any pain or tightness. See if you can bring kindness to the parts that are uncomfortable and try to soften in to any pain or discomfort you might be feeling. Now do the same with the right side of your back. Start at the top of the shoulders and slowly work your way down to your lower back. Again. See if you notice do you have a story about your back pain? Are you holding yourself in a certain way? Meeting all sensations with kindness, Letting the story go and focusing on the direct sensations? Try as best as you can with great kindness and patience, allowing and making space for whatever is happening with your back. Imagine all the muscles relaxing and any holding melting away as you put your attention on your back with kind awareness. Direct the following phrases and receive them May I bring kind attention to my back? May my back pain be released. May the holding in my back soften and open. Now letting your back go. Shifting attention Slowly moving through the hips, pelvis and buttocks area. Noticing any sensation of solidness at the point of contact with the chair, floor or bed. May my hips, pelvis and buttocks be healthy and relaxed. Opening to any sensation arising in your thighs, knees or ankles. Feeling the muscles, the skin, the bones. Bringing your kind awareness and having gratitude for your legs. May my legs be healthy and well. Showing kindness toward your legs even if you are having difficulty with them. Now moving your attention to the tops of your feet and the soles of the feet. Noticing the sensations. May my feet be healthy and well and carry me with ease. Noticing any tightness, pain or discomfort in any of your joints or body parts. Feeling the sensation and offering kindness to your body and allowing yourself to receive your kind attention. Feeling the sensation and offering kindness to your body and allowing yourself to receive your kind attention as best you can. Soften and allow any tightness to release. It may help to imagine your breath traveling down through the body. Practicing gently sending loving kindness to your painful area and allowing the body to release. May this area of the body be at ease. May the pain be released. May this part of my body be healed. Now you can simply let your whole body rest. Noticing if you are holding on in any particular place in the body. If you can feel the breath moving through the body, bring your kind attention to that area of holding. Not judging it or trying to fix it, just wishing it well, allowing it to be as best you can. Meeting the holding or gripping with a heart full of compassion for whatever your body may be experiencing at this time. Try as best you can to bring kindness to any body part that might not be well or is hurting right now. Bring kindness to yourself and your whole body as you repeat these phrases. May I be free of pain? May I be free of pain? May I be free of fear? May I be free of fear? Practicing with kind attention on the body can allow you to relax in such a way that you can begin to drop into a space deeper than your pain or discomfort, deeper than your personality or your story. Staying in the present from moment to moment, aware, resting, the very nature of your being, your wholeness. You can include your entire body in a vast awareness permeated and saturated with compassion and kindness. End this meditation by opening your eyes and shifting your focus back to your surroundings. Foreign.

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